The Intersection of Past and Upcoming

This story was originally published on Medium.

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A bellow, a shriek, a roar… one by one… emanated in the distance, but closed in. Not one single hair on one single neck in the valley wasn’t standing at attention.

Josiah’s legs stretched. Feet heavily pounded dirt. Arms flailed. A glance over his shoulder.

A flurry of lime green scales, cyan scales, and forest green scales… moved in unison on three behemoth bodies. Legs larger than huts galloped, clawed feet punished the earth repeatedly. The three dragons pursued, their yellow eyes locked on Josiah. He, with only a sword in his hand. The plan failed.

The steel of Josiah’s sword was strong enough to break the crystals that lined the mouth of the cave. The dragons were deep enough in the cave when Josiah began. The power of the crystals should have shaken the cave greatly, burying itself into itself, burying the three evil dragons and their terrorizing ways.

But they caught wind of the plan. They began to exit their den as it was all tumbling down. They released plumes of multi-colored fire, unique powers and properties colliding with the powers of the crystals. Instead of the cave coming down on itself, per the plan, no, something shot out of the ceiling and tore a hole in it.

So, Josiah fled. The dragons escaped. The plan failed miserably. That was the only plan. There’s no new plan…

Besides…

…run.

A booming quake swelled the earth like a mighty ocean. Josiah’s knees turned liquid as a tremor glided under the soles of his feet. The sky tore apart above, shreds of air fell from itself. New shades of sky streaked past clouds like painted stripes. A once clear blue sky was abruptly interrupted by sister skies of majestic purple, royal blue, and sickly brown.

Josiah witnessed marvelous sights. His eyes bulged. His legs never stopped stretching along the dirt. He closed in on the harsh stripes of sky above. Objects fell from the clouds. Objects appeared in mid-air. Objects plopped in the dirt ahead. Some objects plopped on… hard gray dirt… seeming to be rock, but smoothed down into a level stripe.

Ahead, an object as big as Josiah’s sleeping quarters. Rectangular, perhaps constructed of rocks, black and shiny rocks. It sat atop four spheres. It was hollowed out and inside, two strangely dressed men sat. The large object rolled to a stop.

More people appeared out of thin air as the air ripped free from itself, revealing hidden layers. From the sickly brown sky, two more men emerged, their clothing beyond questionable, their eyes familiar. Objects in their hands that were a complete mystery to Josiah… but the violence inherent in them was palpable. Their toothy grins were so comforting, even in complete pandemonium, Josiah slowed his pace.

This was how Josiah ended up at the intersection of past and upcoming.

The two men in questionable clothing, bright yellows and oranges, raised the objects in their hands. They pointed them across the landscape at the impending danger of the three dragons. The other two men pushed pieces of the rectangular object off itself, allowing them doorways to climb out of. They stepped into the dirt, similar objects in their hands, quickly raised in the direction of the dragons.

“Got the old models.” One man in bright yellow said to the others.

“They fire rounds. Do yours?”

The man in bright yellow nodded. Josiah studied all their faces. Something suddenly reminded him of Lady Dandeleener. He worried about her safety.

“You gonna help us?” The man in bright yellow asked, nodding at Josiah’s sword.

Josiah lifted his sword and faced the dragons. They were getting close. He could make out the details of their lime green, cyan, and forest green scales. Their bared teeth caught the gleam of several suns shining in the multi-colored sky above.

“I’ll stay and fight. But one of you must find Lady Dandeleener and assure her safety.” Josiah instructed. “Head to the nearby village. The hut closest to the communal well.”

“Lady Dandeleener?” One man who stepped out of the large rectangular object was shocked. “That’s a relative of mine. What is she to us, Shnakely?”

The other man glanced over. “I don’t know… great times 55 grandmother. Deep in the lineage.”

“Shnakely?” The man in bright yellow was stunned. “We have a great great uncle Shnakley.”

All five men studied one another. Their facial features were all becoming more and more familiar. Josiah realized those toothy grins… those were the same he saw of his reflection in the river… that day with Lady Dandeleener… that day they almost… almost for the first time… but then the dragons destroyed a nearby village.

“You can’t be here!” Shnakely yelled at Josiah. “You can’t die!”

Three shadows loomed over the men and they all leapt to the side, barely avoiding a stream of lime green fire that blasted into the decayed dirt beneath them. The other four men scrambled to their feet and held the weapons back up. They squeezed a piece of the weapons, and small pebbles were flung from the tips at speeds as fast as lightning bolts. The pebbles sprayed through the air in a manic manner. Several connected with the lime green dragon’s skin and she shrieked in pain. More pebbles were directed at the cyan dragon and the forest green dragon. Only a few hit their skin, but both roared in agitation and doubled backwards for cover from the strange attack.

The decayed dirt, lit ablaze with lime green fire, rapidly turned back the hands of time. It morphed into healthy light brown dirt, into tufts of grass, back into dirt, and then disintegrated into nothingness. Shnakely pulled Josiah to his feet as the other three flung more lightning-fast pebbles at the dragons and the shrieks continued to pierce the striped sky.

“You have to go find Lady Dandeleener!”

“But I should stay here and fight the dragons! This is my doing!” Josiah was defiant.

“But you can’t die!” Shnakely repeated. “One or two of us could die, but we need numbers to defeat these dragons. And none of us will exist if you die before… before…”

“Before I am with Lady Dandeleener.” Josiah finally got it. “But… now? During this?”

“Most people talk about seeing fireworks, not a rip in space and time.” The man in bright yellow laughed as he flung more pebbles. “But beggars can’t be choosers.”

Josiah was unsure what the beggars who traveled from village to village asking for scraps of food and handfuls of water had to do with any of this, but he didn’t wait to find out. He turned on his heel and raced for the village. He raced for Lady Dandeleener. He hoped he could get to her hut. He didn’t know what would happen when he arrived there. He just knew that was where he needed to be.

The four men continued to fling pebbles from their weapons. Strange clicks emanated from the weapons. They’d yell out, “I need to reload. Cover me!”

The men kept the dragons occupied, until Josiah’s path crossed the peripheral vision of the forest green dragon. Josiah turned for a thicket of bushes, the village still ahead. He heard the fire launch from the throat of the beast and took that as his queue to jump. His body tumbled into dirt and rocks in awkward fashion. He rolled behind the bushes as they caught the brunt of the forest green fire. The bushes levitated in the air, every leaf and twig separated from one another, every particle separated, until it all exploded into smoke.

Josiah jumped up. The forest green dragon cocked his head back, ready to unleash another blast of fire. Josiah clamored to return to full sprinting form, he was hurting, he was slow. There’s no way he’d make it…

…small exploding noises…

…nothing.

Josiah got his legs extending once more, in full stride. He looked over his shoulder. The forest green dragon was under siege. Pebbles ricocheted off him, courtesy of the modern men and their modern weapons.

The modern brethren continued taking turns. Two would point their weapons at the dragons, metallic pebbles pelting their skin. Two would would hold their weapons down and insert pieces inside. Then, the groups would swap actions. Josiah saw the lime green dragon pelted repeatedly, scarlet secretion staining her skin. Forest green fire and cyan fire rained down towards the men as they leapt behind boulders for safety.

Josiah forgot to look ahead and tripped on a boulder. He bashed his forehead into a log. His head was hot, his mind woozy. Breath escaped him. More small explosions. More shrieking from one dragon. More roars from another…

…nothing from a third.

Josiah peeled himself off the dirt and glanced back. Lime green and scarlet swirls on one beast, scarlet liquid seeped from a forest green beast. The cyan dragon stood behind his brother and sister for cover… and he was leering at Josiah.

Josiah spun and fled the area. He dared not look back. He heard a sharp roar. The soles of his feet pounded the soul of the earth. One foot after another, one extended leg after another, he moved closer to the village. The earth shook heavily between each of his steps. From mighty steps of another. Another in pursuit of him.

He heard a massive inhale. He veered left for cover behind enormous trees. He heard flames scorch through the air… ungodly, crackling sounds. He felt heat behind him, followed by a deathly frost. But he never dared look back.

Another inhale from a gigantic throat. Josiah veered right and used more trees for cover.

More flames.

More heat.

More frost.

The village was just ahead. He pushed past a thicket of trees and ignored the horrific blend of heavy thuds on dirt and trees snapping and collapsing. He pressed on.

Past the first huts. Past the communal well.

And then he burst through Lady Dandeleener’s wooden fence. He collapsed in her hut. She stood on the other side of the hut, index finger pressed against her pursed lips. Josiah focused his sights outside the hut, cyan fire floated in the air. The air solidified, piece by piece, until a jagged, tall, crystalline wall stood where once there was nothing. Dagger-like shards extended from every inch of the wall outside Lady Dandeleener’s hut.

Josiah remained still and silent. As did Lady Dandeleener.

Short bursts of air through nostrils blasted at the sides of the hut. The two were frozen. A slow grumbling rolled out of an angry throat.

Silence.

Josiah looked to Lady Dandeleener. Her eyes were wet… limbs stiff and frozen.

She was beautiful.

The heavy pounding of reptilian legs sounded suddenly… and faded. Small explosions in the distance. Beastly bellows and human screams.

“I’m scared.” Lady Dandeleener whispered. “Is this the end?”

“No.” Josiah moved close to her.

“You don’t know that.”

“I don’t believe it to be true.”

“It could be the end.” Lady Dandeleener said. “If it is, I want to know that I’ve lived.”

Her shining eyes spoke more clearly than words ever could. She wrapped her arms around Josiah. He pulled her in tightly. They fell into a pile of straw.

The howls of the three dragons were terrifying, but even with that, Josiah was amazed how little he thought of them. How little he paid mind to the ghastly danger.

He never knew a feeling so pure could exist that he could ignore the sounds of three of the most powerful beasts in the land.

A feeling so wonderful that he could ignore the sounds of two of the most powerful beasts in the land.

A feeling so terrific that he could ignore the sounds of one of the most powerful beasts in the land.

A feeling of love. So good. So good that it defeated the evil beasts… and returned the land to silent peace.

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